Wordsmith    899217 Sat, 28 Feb 09 02:14 AM tmQ W : ) Wordsmith Video

	nmstevens    899313 Sat, 28 Feb 09 03:01 PM [nq:1][youtube:8OzSGm6] tmQ W : )[/nq] Now, there's a story of a career that truly faltered. Early on, some of the greatest movies in American cinema maybe some of the greatest movies ever. The Godfather one and two. Apocalyse Now, the Conversation. And then it's as if something just disappeared. One From the Heart was just emotionally empty. A disaster. And it was as if he never really recovered from it. He's never made anything on the level of those early movies since. It's just as if something went out of him. It's funny there was really a whole generation of filmmakers around that time that made a few (or even one or two) excellent movies early - and then never quite reached the level of those early movies. Certainly George Lucas is one of them. William Friedkin is probably another. Then there's Michael Cimino - we all know what happened to him. I think you could even make a case for Spielberg. Has he really made a movie better than Jaws? That is, a movie that is, in every respect, a more complete and perfect film? Of that whole generation, the only one who is still working and still turning out movies of really high quality is Scorsese. Certainly not every movie he makes is great but he continues to make good movies and every so often, a really excellent movie. It's really interesting when you look back on it from this perspective it really is almost an entire *failed* generation of filmmakers. They started with enormous promise and ended with what? The Clone Wars? Bram Stoker's Dracula? Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull? NMS nmstevens Countries, Conversational, Speaking, Chat, Friendships, United States, American, Video

	MC    899326 Sat, 28 Feb 09 03:22 PM [nq:2][youtube:8OzSGm6] tmQ W : )[/nq] "Now, there's a story of a career that truly faltered. Early on, some of the greatest movies in American cinema ... From the Heart was just emotionally empty. A disaster. And it was as if he never really recovered from it." "It's really interesting when you look back on it from this perspective it really is almost an entire *failed* generation of filmmakers. They started with enormous promise and ended with what? The Clone Wars? Bram Stoker's Dracula? Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull?" There's an oft-cited theory that scientists and composers peak by age 30. Paul McCartney's performing skills are as good as, or better thanever, but has he written one song that comes close to his days with the Beatles? (Bear in mind that most Lennon/McCartney songs were not really written by the two of them). But I would argue that there's plenty of evidence that novelists get better with time. Screenwriters too? Words are all we have. Samuel Beckett MC Countries, United States, Arts, American, Songs, Video, Music

	MC    899327 Sat, 28 Feb 09 03:23 PM "I think you could even make a case for Spielberg. Has he really made a movie better than Jaws?" Schindler's List Words are all we have. Samuel Beckett MC

	studio    899328 Sat, 28 Feb 09 03:27 PM Anyone familiar with the past case of Coppola failing to get the rights to film "Contact" over Zemeckis? I wonder how different his vision of it may have been. (?) studio

	RonB    899440 Sat, 28 Feb 09 11:46 PM "Overall I think film editors are a little too free with the scalpel these days. Nobody goes to a film ... philosophy of "why don't we remove a kidney while we're in here by the pancreas, surely two kidneys is overkill."." Maybe with good films, but most of the movies I've seen lately have caused me to look at my watch A LOT wondering how long the damn thing is going to last and they leave me with the impression that if only they had cut some of this out, it wouldn't have too bad. The prime example of that would be the newest "Batman." But also "Hellboy 2" and just about every movie I've seen lately, including romantic comedies. I do know, however, that a good movie can last a lot longer and seem a lot shorter than a lousy one. (Maybe I should watch better movies.) RonB "There's a story there...somewhere" RonB

	websearch    899570 Sun, 01 Mar 09 02:09 PM "There's an oft-cited theory that scientists and composers peak by age 30." Any 'theory' that is so flatly contradicted by, inter alia, the examples of Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner, Elgar, Bruckner, Mahler and Vaughan Williams isn't worth the paper it's drivelled on. W. websearch Arts

	MC    899572 Sun, 01 Mar 09 02:14 PM "There's an oft-cited theory that scientists and composers peak by age 30." "Any 'theory' that is so flatly contradicted by, inter alia, the examples of Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner, Elgar, Bruckner, Mahler and Vaughan Williams isn't worth the paper it's drivelled on." May be truer of scientists... Words are all we have. Samuel Beckett MC Arts

	RonB    899683 Sun, 01 Mar 09 09:18 PM "I think the trouble with Hellboy 2 wasn't that there was too much stuff I loved all the stuff. ... just an excuse to get from sequence to sequence. There was no emotion, no meaning, no point. Just beautiful images." You're right. "Hellboy 2" was a bad example for me to use. What you said above, is basically what my brother and were talking about after we saw it. We figured that del Toro got so caught up in making these scenes that he forgot to write a story for them. Had there been a story, the length would have probably taken care of itself. RonB "There's a story there...somewhere" RonB Speaking, Chat, Friendships